A DISTINGUISHED VISITOR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2280, 14 October 1914, Page 4

A DISTINGUISHED VISITOR

The visit of Sir Douglas Mawson to New Zealand is an event of much interest from a scientific point of view, .but the war has monopolised the attention of the general public to such an extent that all other interests have been to a large extent thrust into tho background_ for the time being. This fact, combined with the shortness of the notice, prevented the civic reception which was accorded to our distinguished / guest from being as largely attended as would otherwise have been the case, but the welcome was nevertheless a very hearty one. Sir Douglas Mawson realises that the war "has taken the wind out of his sails," and he accepts the inevitable with a good grace. , The object of his tour is to give loctures on his exploring experiences in order to wipe but a debt of £3000 on the expedition! Everyone who has any knowledge of his brilliant achievements as a scientist and explorer will ■ ivisli him every success, and all, will regret that hia visit should have occurred at such a critical time in the Empire's history. The Mawson Expedition was overshadowed by Scott's tragic voyage to t/ho South Pole, but it had its own ■ tragedies and hardships, and Sir Douglas Mawson did not spare himself. He had a very narrow escape from death, and his courage and endurance entitle him to a high place among the heroic men who have .risked their lives for the enlargement of human knowledge , . The scientific results of liis expedition aro extremely valuable, and his own account of his sojourn in the Antarctic wilds cannot fail to be intensely interesting as well as instructive. Some of the adventures of Sir Douglas Mawson and his comrades were quite as thrilling as many of the battlefield episodes of which we have road so much since tho outbreak of tho war.